Field
The disclosed concept relates generally to joint monitoring and, more particularly, to devices, systems and methods of monitoring electrical joints.
Background Information
Electrical joints are typically formed by bringing two or more conductive members into electrical contact with each other. The electrical joints can be secured together with, for example, one or more fasteners. The electrical performance of the joint, and in particular, the conductivity of the joint, depends partially on the conductive members being secured together tightly. However, even if the conductive members are initially secured together tightly, the electrical joint can loosen over time. A loosening of the electrical joint reduces the conductivity of the electrical joint and can cause additional problems such as overheating.
Due to the aforementioned problems, it is desirable to determine whether the conductive members in an electrical joint are properly secured together. However, verifying whether the conductive members in an electrical joint are properly secured together can be difficult and costly. Infrared (IR) scanning is costly and is only a spot check in time and can be a safety hazard since equipment doors need to be open while the equipment is live in order to perform an IR scan. Also, current needs to be flowing during the measurement. All this is costly and time consuming, and furthermore does not provide constant monitoring. Also, many connections are not easily accessed after they are assembled in the factory. Providing a means to monitor these connections provides additional system reliability.
There is room for improvement in devices, systems and methods of monitoring electrical joints.